Life and times of an amateur athlete and my adventures as a weekend warrior - including my successful completion of Ironman Canada Subaru 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009

Yes I am still alive.

Wow it has been a while since I have posted ! Too busy training and such. Since the last time I posted I have been carefully playing with my nutrition/electrolyte needs to get it right for race day. Mixed results but I think I have got it figured out, more on that later.

Did 2 races during the last 2 weeks : the 3km Kits Swim Challenge and Escape Velocity’s WarpSpeed Time Trial. So it has been busy.

The Swim went well – at least from my perspective – I was calm , I finished and it was in about the time I thought I would do – I would prefer a little faster but it is what it is and I feel confident that I will finish the Ironman swim. I am hoping for 1 hour 40 min but in the end the goal is to finish it and get to the bike before cut-off which I now know I will do. I did the swim in 1 hour 31 min for 3 km in very choppy water! I felt like I was in a washing machine but when I came out I was not exhausted and more importantly I did not panic or freak out at the start or whenever anyone came up to me – I was “Bamboo”.

– Funny aside - I just finished my OWS course on Thursday and at our wrap up dinner a couple of other ladies in the course were talking and I said they should register for the 750m race and use it as a training swim. The amazing Diane hemmed and hawed and I cajoled her into registering with the famous “Really, HOW BAD CAN IT BE?” line. So fast forward to Saturday morning and I am standing with there with Special K who has come to cheer and Diane wanders up and says I can’t believe I am doing this – look what happens over a beer? Shaun talked me into this! Special K was like – this is nothing – do you know the crazy things this woman has talked me into over a beer or breakfast? Stormy, Marathons, H2H! It is a slippery slope sister! I started laughing – Who ME???? – I guess you had to be there and know the history – it is kinda true. Anyone want to for a beer...

Next up was the Escape Velocity Time Trial – coach wanted us to do a 20km Time Trial in Abbotsford and then I was to bike home from Abbotsford to Burnaby to get another 4 hours in. We got there early and signed in I chose the 10:17am start time because I wanted to get done and on the road back home – it was going to be a long day as it was. I did my 30+ min warm-up and rode up to the start line 5 min prior but some error they did not have me down on the list – when I tried to talk to them they would not listen – the list showed the time and it was fairly obvious that they forgot to put my name in. Anyways after some negotiating they re-slotted me in at 10:33 – warm-up now wasted but better than their suggested 11:00 time that I refused. Apparently anger fuels me because my time was 36:30 (my watch still waiting for their results) which I am very pleased with as I wanted under 40 min. I then grabbed all my stuff from the back of my friends car and put it back on my bike – fluids, food, and such (forgot my tool kit thankfully I did not flat on the ride!). Went to the bathroom, grabbed a banana and headed off on my Fraser Valley adventure! Snap Crackle Pop it was a HOT day – but my legs felt fine and I did not get a headache or anything from the heat – one problem was my neck and shoulders were cramping up something fierce – need to get my handle bars looked at.

For fuel I had 5 bottles of Electrolytes, 2 gels, a banana and a peanut butter sandwich – I felt good just HOT - no leg cramping. I think I might be better to eat a few more gels and I could have eaten my apple I brought but my metabolism is ridiculously slow so I believe for me it is more important to make sure I get in the electrolytes/liquids since I sweat a ridiculous amount. I did try to add some Natural liquid minerals in my bottles during the past week but I don’t like the taste and that means I won’t drink them which defeats the purpose.

I will continue to fine tune/tweak this since I know it is essential I stay hydrated. The one bonus with the heat wave is that I am getting used to riding/running in the heat. Only 35 more days to go – gosh it is coming up fast! Shaun

About Me

I am an IRONMAN. I set this blog up to share a little about my journey to Ironman but mostly to introduce you to some truly fabulous women I run and train with and possibly inspire a few of you to get off the couch and do something. My friends and I come from all spectrum's of life and all age groups some of us are faster than others, some of us are beginners, some are in their 20's, some in their 50's, some only run 10km, some do Ultra's (50km and over) but the one thing we all have in common is that we like an adventure, a challenge, to push the envelope, and to have a whole lot of fun while we do it. Oh and we never, EVER unless it is physically impossible quit! It is not about the time or where we placed it is about finishing what we started, supporting each other and inspiring each other to be all we can be, looking at task and saying How Bad can it Be? and then learning that it was pretty bad but we survived and then finding the next event or adventure and doing it all over again. Hope you enjoy the read. Peace out